NYC vs PDX

We’re kind of getting ready for the big move out west. In eight weeks time, if all goes according to plan, we will be in Portland. I have never been filled with such love for two places. On one hand, I’m so excited to be back in Oregon. I can’t overstate this. I feel like a five-year-old who has just been told that soon, very soon, Santa Claus will be taking her to Disneyland for her birthday party. And there will be kittens and strawberry shortcake.

On the other hand, I will miss Brooklyn so much. It’s been my home for most of my adult life. But New York City is a harsh mistress. She is wondrous in so many ways, but you can never hope to keep up with her. And she doesn’t give a shit whether you’re here or not. The most you can hope for is to lay claim to one block, one section of subway platform, a favorite bar or diner, your gym locker. That is all. It’s heartbreaking, really.

But as much as I already miss Brooklyn, I know this is the right decision on so many levels. The reasons are many, and I will describe them in some upcoming posts. But in the meantime, I wondered if the decision looks good on paper, freed from the deceptive constraints of feelings and anecdotes.

I don’t know which came first, my love for Wikipedia or my love for statistics. It doesn’t matter, because at this point, the love has become a tautology. I thought I’d do a side-by-side comparison of factors that are boring, but important to me. They do, but it’s not one sided.

On New York’s side are sunshine hours, diversity and public transportation. On Portland’s side lies pretty much everything else.

My only regret is that I don’t have the graphic design skills to make precisely scaled Venn diagrams or pie charts. In Helvetica.

New York

Portland

Population (city)

8,175,133

583,776

The population of New York City is more than twice that of the entire state of Oregon.

2 Responses to NYC vs PDX

Actually, curbside composting is going to be rolling out to the whole city of Portland soon (finally!) – it’s like a welcome gift for you!! So while, yes, you will need to start composting, no, it will not be remotely difficult.

I love your list, and if I had endless hours of time waiting to be filled, I would make pretty infographics for you. Alas, this is not the case.

Hooray, welcome soon to Portland (or…back to Portland)! You know, I was actually surprised at some of the comparative statistics you laid out above (particularly rainfall amounts, since the Pacific NW gets such a bad rap for *supposedly* being rainy nonstop).